Raspberry Bounty

I promised this would be a forum for experiments and trying out new ideas. Well, here is the first of a very loose style with soft pastels.

Raspberry Bounty, Soft Pastels on Sennelier Pastel Card
Size 11 x 15 inches
£85 / $120


Also available to buy as a postcard.

I have been using Sennelier Pastel Card for a while, but today my book of 40cm by 30cm pad of card arrived and I had to try it out! Other people have made comments (on Amazon) that there is too much variety in the book and it would be better to buy individual colours. At the moment I don't have any complaints about this.

First I used Antique White (a light sand colour) to draw a Fisher Price man. You won't be seeing this! Epic fail - as my kids would say.

Also today, some new pastels arrived. Amongst others were three shades of Unison 'Red'. They are a very cool red - approaching a deep pink. The colours themselves look edible and I knew there was one thing I had to christen them with - raspberries. I used a photograph I'd taken at a fruit-picking farm last summer.

The ground I used is a dark green - great as a compliment to the bright pink/red of the raspberries. The technique is much freer and more experimental than anything I've tried before, but I really love it. I stepped back several times - refining the blocked-in colours a little as I went.

Only when I hinted at the shape around the edges and added in highlights of a few of those little matt spheres did these actually begin to look like raspberries. I am very happy with what I've created here and it's a style I will definitely be returning to. Maybe tomorrow!

This painting will be sold without a mount or frame, but securely packaged under glassine and protected with Foam Board.

To view or buy my paintings, please check My Gallery.